Community to celebrate John C. Fremont's 200th birthday

Born Jan. 21, 1813, he became known as "the Great Pathfinder," traveling the western territories extensively.

To celebrate his heritage, the Fremont County Commissioners and Fremont County Heritage Commission would like to invite the public to celebrate John C. Fremont's 200th birthday at 10 a.m. Monday at 615 Macon Ave.

During the event, there will be speakers, guests of distinction, a proclamation and refreshments.

During his colorful life, Fremont was known as one of the more contentious and visionary figures in American history, gaining fame when he explored the west, surveying, mapping and describing the Rockies, the Great Basin and the Oregon country, a Fremont County Historical Society newsletter said.

Prior to his birth, his father, Jean Charles Fremont, a French immigrant, had been hired to tutor the 17-year-old wife of Major John Pryor, who was in his 60s. When Fremont and Anne Whiting Pryor became involved, Major Pryor asked for a divorce, but the Virginia House of Delegates refused to grant it. So Jean and Anne moved to Norfolk, Va., then to Savannah, Ga., where Jean taught French and dancing. Along the way, John C. Fremont was born. When he turned 6, his father died and Anne moved the family to Charleston, S.C., where Fremont received the basics of education, including math, literature, science and classical languages.

In 1828, Fremont was expelled from the College of Charleston because "of irregular attendance and no respect for college discipline," the newsletter continued.

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But he did earn a degree from the college in 1836.

Two years later, he was appointed as a second lieutenant in the Topographical Engineers in the Army. From there, he served as an apprentice to the French explorer, Jean Nicholas Nicollet, who surveyed and mapped the country lying between the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the newsletter said. Fremont surveyed the lower Des Moines River in 1841, and in the same year, he married Jessie Benton, the daughter of Sen. Thomas Hart Benton, of Missouri. Because of his father-in-law's influence, Fremont was able to secure the exploration assignments of the territory between the Mississippi Valley and the Pacific Ocean.

Fremont's legacy lives on with many places named for him, which include mountains, towns, libraries, plants and counties, including the local one when the Kansas territorial legislature territory created the name to honor the surveyor.

"The county became part of Colorado when the boundary of Kansas territory was moved to make way for Colorado territory in 1861," the newsletter said.

Rising 13,785 feet above the Arkansas River gorge, the peak west of Cañon City also has Fremont's name. He became important to this area after making his second trip up the Republican River to the South Platte River in Fort St. Vrain in 1843. Traveling southward, he continued on the Fountain Creek and then on the Arkansas River, where he met his friend and former scout, Kit Carson and dispatched to Bent's Fort to get some mules.

When Fremont traveled to this area, he stayed in Hardscabble north of Florence to collect supplies, locate scouts and rest up before, during and after his adventures.

Everyone is invited to the 200th party to celebrate Fremont, who left a rich legacy in his lifetime.